The Big Space Exploration Topic [21-08-2017: Total Solar Eclipse in the USA!]

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  • CommanderRossCommanderRoss The bottom of a pitch lake in Eastern Trinidad, place called La Brea
    Posts: 8,290
    patb wrote: »
    Watched the live stream, just breath taking. The twin landing of the boosters just as impressive as the launch. The crash of the core is a reminder that this is serious research and we are pushing our limits.

    I see there is a Douglas Adams quote on the dash. With Musk being a huge Bond fan, have EON missed a trick? A quote from Moonraker would have been fantastic and a nice tribute to RM:

    "Take me 'round the world one more time."

    It's not just the quote 'Don't panic', it's got a towel on board as well. I think the Hitchhikers'guide is well represented there. Love it. Was an amazing test and those boosters landing in unison.... just amazing!
  • Creasy47Creasy47 In Cuba with Natalya.Moderator
    Posts: 41,001
    Just the thought that a Tesla vehicle is cruising through space currently, blaring David Bowie is so damn cool to me.
  • DarthDimiDarthDimi Behind you!Moderator
    Posts: 24,232
    One of the few things mankind is doing right at the moment: space travel. Elon Musk may very well prove to be the first true saviour of us all.
  • ThunderfingerThunderfinger Das Boot Hill
    Posts: 45,489
    DarthDimi wrote: »
    One of the few things mankind is doing right at the moment: space travel. Elon Musk may very well prove to be the first true saviour of us all.

    Or maybe he plans to wipe us all out and move to Mars.
  • Creasy47Creasy47 In Cuba with Natalya.Moderator
    Posts: 41,001
    DarthDimi wrote: »
    One of the few things mankind is doing right at the moment: space travel. Elon Musk may very well prove to be the first true saviour of us all.

    Or maybe he plans to wipe us all out and move to Mars.

    "First, there was a dream..."
  • ThunderfingerThunderfinger Das Boot Hill
    Posts: 45,489
    I heard his real name is Lone Skum.
  • ThunderfingerThunderfinger Das Boot Hill
    Posts: 45,489
    Explore your inner space.
    giphy.gif
  • ThunderfingerThunderfinger Das Boot Hill
    Posts: 45,489
    First space hotel is planned for opening in 2022. You had better be a multi-millionaire if you want to book a room.
  • ThunderfingerThunderfinger Das Boot Hill
    Posts: 45,489
  • DwayneDwayne New York City
    Posts: 2,860
    Currently watching “Apollo 13” happen in real time, something that I did last summer with Apollo 11 – on its’ 50th anniversary. Needless to say, my inner “Geek” has been set to the “ON Position.” 😊

    https://apolloinrealtime.org/13/

    The great thing about this website, is that one can follow the mission (in real time) via video (where available), audio between the crew and mission control, or even the on-board crew transcripts. In fact, as I post this, I’m listening to the trans-lunar injection burn to send the crew to the moon – as it happened 50 years ago – to the second. And we all know what happened about 56 hours into this mission…..

    I’ll have a lot more to post on this as the week progresses, but for now, I’ll post a link to this new retrospective film.

  • DwayneDwayne New York City
    Posts: 2,860
    Tonight (Day #3), April 13th is the 50th anniversary of the “Houston, we’ve had a problem” moment.

    However, day #2 of the mission had its’ lighter moments. For example, the first set of crew exchanges finds them being notified that the Beatles have broken up, while another exchange finds the crew asking about the procedure to file a tax extension with the IRS. (For those of you not in the US, we are required to file our income tax forms with the government on – or before – April 15th of every year).

    Lovell: "Hello there, Houston; 13."
    CAPCOM: "13, Houston. Go ahead."
    Lovell: "Gosh, we had forgotten, but we'd like to hear what the news is."
    CAPCOM: "Okay. There's not a whole lot to it."

    CAPCOM: "Okay, let's see. The Beatles have announced they will no longer perform as a group. The quartet is reported to have made in excess of a half billion dollars during their short musical career."

    CAPCOM: "However, rumors that [The Beatles] will use this money to start their own space program are false."
    Lovell: "Maybe we could borrow some."
    CAPCOM: "(Laughter). Okay."


    CAPCOM: "Today's favorite pastime across the - Uh oh; have you guys completed your income tax?"
    Lovell: "How do I apply for an extension?"
    CAPCOM: "(Laughter)."

    Swigert: "Yes, Joe. I got to - hey, listen - It ain't too funny; things kind of happened real fast down there, and I do need an [income tax] extension."
    CAPCOM: "(Laughter)."
    Swigert: "I didn't get mine filed."

    Swigert: "And this is serious; would you - -"
    CAPCOM: "You're breaking up the room down here."
    Swigert: "- - because I may be spending time in ... another quarantine besides the one that they are planning for me."
    CAPCOM: "We'll see what we can do, Jack."

    Lovell: "Is it true that Jack's income tax return was going to be used to buy the ascent fuel for the LM?"
    CAPCOM: "Well, considering that he's a bachelor and hasn't got that deduction to take, yes."

    Swigert: "Hey, Joe. I'm glad you brought that up, because I was really serious about that."
    CAPCOM: "Okay, Jack. We'll - We'll take care of it. Tom Stafford says he'll get an extension for you."
    Swigert: "Okay."
  • DaltonCraig007DaltonCraig007 They say, "Evil prevails when good men fail to act." What they ought to say is, "Evil prevails."
    edited April 2020 Posts: 15,721
    If you had started watching "Apollo 13" at 9:17pm ET last night, Tom Hanks would have uttered the infamous, "Houston, we have a problem" line *exactly* 50 years after Jim Lovell said it for real - 10:08pm, on April 13, 1970.
  • DwayneDwayne New York City
    edited April 2020 Posts: 2,860
    If you had started watching "Apollo 13" at 9:17pm ET last night, Tom Hanks would have uttered the infamous, "Houston, we have a problem" line *exactly* 50 years after Jim Lovell said it for real - 10:08pm, on April 13, 1970.

    On Monday evening I had the movie playing on my DVD - there was actually a "group" watch on YouTube (in the same vain as the Dr. No thing). And while I was doing that, I was plugged into the ApolloInRealTime website, so I could listen to the real event - as it played out 50 years ago. I'm going to post a review of the 1995 movie at some point soon. Yes, I'm a TOTAL nerd for this type of thing! ;-)

    BTW: Lowell actually said "We've had a problem" (past tense). In listening to the real time replay last night, it is interesting to note that it took a good 28 minutes for the crew and mission control to conclude that the problem was real - and not the fault of bad instrumentation. While the crew and heard the "bang", initially Mission Control felt that this was a solvable issue. Only after none of the attempted solutions worked, did they conclude that the crew was in "deep sh*t."
  • ThunderfingerThunderfinger Das Boot Hill
    Posts: 45,489
  • ThunderfingerThunderfinger Das Boot Hill
    Posts: 45,489
  • ThunderfingerThunderfinger Das Boot Hill
    Posts: 45,489

    Very cool, if you believe in that sort of science.
  • ThunderfingerThunderfinger Das Boot Hill
    Posts: 45,489
  • DaltonCraig007DaltonCraig007 They say, "Evil prevails when good men fail to act." What they ought to say is, "Evil prevails."
    edited May 2020 Posts: 15,721
    Space X launch in a little over 3 hours from now.

    Here is the live stream:

  • DwayneDwayne New York City
    Posts: 2,860
    Space X launch in a little over 3 hours from now.

    Fingers and toes crossed! The weather is going to be iffy.
  • DaltonCraig007DaltonCraig007 They say, "Evil prevails when good men fail to act." What they ought to say is, "Evil prevails."
    edited May 2020 Posts: 15,721
    The launch has been aborted.

    Next attempt will be this Saturday, May 30th.
  • DwayneDwayne New York City
    edited May 2020 Posts: 2,860
    The launch has been aborted.

    Next attempt will be this Saturday, May 30th.

    Not aborted, but scrubbed. Big difference. When the main engines fire but then cut-off we have an abort. An on-pad abort is an abort that happens before the launch vehicle is released. An inflight abort is when the launch vehicle fails. When the launch is canceled before main engine start - we have a scrub.

    Sorry. But the space buff in me is all nerd :-). In any case, see you on Saturday afternoon.

    BTW: Its a good thing I didn't post in the COVID-19 thread when they were discussing "average" and "median." With stats (my profession BTW), I'm - also - a total nerd!
  • DaltonCraig007DaltonCraig007 They say, "Evil prevails when good men fail to act." What they ought to say is, "Evil prevails."
    Posts: 15,721
    @Dwayne No need to apologize. i appreciate the correction! I didn't know there were different terms for this.
  • DwayneDwayne New York City
    edited May 2020 Posts: 2,860
    With all of the bad news here in the U.S., this sight was most welcomed. Thanks to the teams at NASA and SpaceX for giving us a brief respite from things. Also welcomed was the shoutout that the current NASA administrator (Jim Bridenstine) gave to his predecessor who pushed for the Commercial Crew program back in 2010. It is very rare these days for the political appointee of one party to acknowledge the work of someone from the opposite side of the aisle (Maj. Gen. Charles Bolden). That’s the way things should work, but if wishes were reality, I would be dating ____ (insert Bond girl name here 😊).



    Docking with the International Space Station is scheduled for 10:29 AM (EST) on Sunday.
  • WillardWhyteWillardWhyte Midnight Society #ProjectMoon
    edited May 2020 Posts: 784
    Today's NASA/SpaceX launch was the coolest thing I have ever seen.

    youtube.com/watch?time_continue=3&v=llbIzbOStt4

    Capsule Endeavor has a nice ring to it.

    Congratulations to all involved!
  • ThunderfingerThunderfinger Das Boot Hill
    Posts: 45,489
  • ThunderfingerThunderfinger Das Boot Hill
    Posts: 45,489
  • DaltonCraig007DaltonCraig007 They say, "Evil prevails when good men fail to act." What they ought to say is, "Evil prevails."
    Posts: 15,721
  • CommanderRossCommanderRoss The bottom of a pitch lake in Eastern Trinidad, place called La Brea
    Posts: 8,290

    Cool!
    (and they've got no doubt the same casting director as Suits ;-)
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